Yamagata Aritomo

Yamagata Aritomo (14 June 1838-1 February 1922) was Prime Minister of Japan from 24 December 1889 to 6 May 1891, succeeding Sanjo Sanetomi and preceding Matsukasa Masayoshi and from 8 November 1898 to 19 October 1900, succeeding Okuma Shigenobu and preceding Ito Hirobumi. He served as Minister of War and Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army on many occasions, and he was responsible for the modernization of the Japanese military in the style of Prussia; he is also called "the father of Japanese militarism".

Biography
Yamagata Aritomo was born on 14 June 1838 in the Choshu Domain, and he was a staff officer of the newly-formed Imperial Japanese Army during the Boshin War. In 1873, Aritomo was appointed Minister of War, and he advocated a form of Japanese nationalism and militarism based on Prussia. Aritomo was influenced by Prussia's belief in having a strong government at home and a strong army to fight for expansion, and he introduced the practice of conscription to the Imperial Japanese Army. In 1877, Aritomo led the modernized Imperial Japanese Army in the quelling of the Satsuma Rebellion, and the head of his former comrade-turned-rebel leader Saigo Takamori was brought to him. He served as Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1878 to 1882, 1884-1885, and 1904-1905, and in 1898 he was promoted to Field Marshal; he fought in the First Sino-Japanese War as a commanding general and led the Japanese 1st Army during the Russo-Japanese War while he was Chief of the General Staff. Aritomo was seen as the father of Japanese militarism, and he died in 1922 at the age of 83.